Airtight container for keeping food

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an airtight container for preserving food, and more particularly, in order to make the molding of the container easy, reduce the manufacturing cost of the container while minimizing the fraction defective, and manufacture a tempered glass container which is not broken by collision among containers during production or distribution by making the thickness of the entire container uniform, the present invention provides an airtight container for preserving food comprising a container body wherein a lid with a locking member is detachably coupled on the upper portion on the peripheral surface and a space for food accommodation is provided therein, wherein a stumbling sill  121  with a lateral groove toward the inner direction is formed on the outer surface of the wall  12  of the container body, a side wall of groove  122,  which is extended downwardly from the width of the stumbling sill to the outer surface of the wall, is formed on both ends of the stumbling sill, and protruded surface  124  corresponding to the groove depth of the stumbling sill is formed internally in the inner surface of the wall, thereby forming the wall with a uniform thickness.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an airtight container for preserving food, more particularly, to an airtight container for preserving food, which is easy to manufacture by providing a stumbling sill in the form of a groove on the outer surface of the container wall, instead of the protruded outwardly from the upper end of a container body to which a lid is coupled in the related art, and is able to prevent the container from being damaged during the process of packaging and distribution.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, the airtight containers have been widely used for preserving various foods, for example, side dishes, vegetables, fruits and other raw food materials to be cooked, for a long time. These airtight containers are usually provided with a lid with a built-in packing in the container body to prevent the odors of foods packed therein from being emitted out. The details will be described more specifically referring to the drawings as set forth below.

As shown in FIG. 9, the conventional airtight container 1 includes a container body 2 and a lid 3, and a locking member 3 a is provided around the periphery of the lid 3. Further, a locking piece 3 b is formed in the inner surface of the locking member 3 a, a protruded supporting corbel 2 a is provided on the upper peripheral surface of the container body 2, and a joint groove 2 b is formed on the inner surface of the supporting corbel 2 a.

In manufacturing the conventional type of airtight containers 1, the container body 2 is molded along the upper peripheral surface so that supporting corbel 2 a can be protruded thus making the molding process very complex. Further, because the joint groove 2 b should be formed on the lower internal surface of the protruded supporting corbel 2 a the molding process is very challenging thereby increasing the manufacturing cost. In addition, there is a high risk of collision during distribution process among the finished products of the conventional type of airtight containers due to the protruded supporting corbel 2 a which result in breakage thus decreasing productivity.

A patent application publication identified below, being a related art, discloses a method of manufacturing an airtight container attempting to remedy the problems shown in FIG. 9 due to the presence of the protruded supporting corbel 2 a by providing a coupling groove on the outer surface of the wall of the container so that a locking member of the lid can be coupled thereunto. However, the above invention also has serious disadvantage. More specifically, the above invention employs a method of protruding a part of the wall to the outside in order to provide a coupling groove on the wall surface which results in undercut after molding thus requiring a slide mold at the time of preparing a mold. This increases the cost for manufacturing a mold. Further, it also causes the defect in the final product of the container made of glass because the thickness of the container is not uniform it cannot maintain a uniform rigidity of tempered glass even though it undergoes a reinforcing process of quick cooling after increasing to a high temperature.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS Patent Document

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. sho 64-042259

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Problems that the Invention is to Solve

The present invention provides an improved airtight container for preserving food, whose method of molding is easy, reduces its manufacturing cost, minimizes fraction defective thus reducing unit production cost, improves productivity, and enables to maintain an overall uniform thickness of the container of the final product the capable of manufacturing a tempered glass container which can be prevented from unexpected breakage of the products during their production or distribution for sales.

Means for Solving the Problems

In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides an airtight container for preserving food comprising a container body wherein a lid with a locking member is detachably coupled on the upper portion on the peripheral surface and a space for food accommodation is provided therein, wherein a stumbling sill with a lateral groove toward the inner direction is formed on the outer surface of the wall of the container body, a side wall of groove, which is extended downwardly from the width of the stumbling sill to the outer surface of the wall, is formed on both ends of the stumbling sill, and protruded surface corresponding to the groove depth of the stumbling sill is formed internally in the inner surface of the wall, thereby forming the wall with a uniform thickness.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a coupling protrusion is protruded downwardly on the outer portion of the stumbling sill.

Advantage of Invention

The present invention has many advantages. First, a container body can be molded without a protruded part on the outer surface. Further, a stumbling sill to which a lid is coupled is not protruded to the outer surface of the container but is formed so that it is dented inwardly. As a result, the molding process becomes to be easy; the manufacturing cost is reduced thereby lowering unit production cost. Still further, the container of the present invention is not easily broken during the assembly or distribution for sales. In addition, the inner surface of the wall of the container is protruded inwardly corresponding to the stumbling sill formed on the outer surface of the container wall thus providing a uniform thickness being capable of manufacturing tempered glass container thereby improving durability of the container meeting the customers' needs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of an airtight container taken along line ‘B-B’.

FIG. 5 is an assembly view of an airtight container and a lid according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a mold for forming an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an airtight container formed via the mold of FIG. 6 a.

FIG. 8( a) is a partial enlarged view of part C of FIG. 7 showing the polishing process of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8( b) is a sectional view showing the polishing process of an airtight container according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a container body and a lid in an airtight container according to the related art.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the invention to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of an airtight container taken along line ‘B-B’. FIG. 5 is an assembly view of an airtight container and a lid according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the container body 10 is provided with a receiving space 11 for accommodating food with its upper end open, and the side wall of the receiving space 11 is surrounded by wall 12 and a stumbling sill 121 with a groove toward the inner direction is formed on the outer surface of the wall 12.

The stumbling sill 121 has a predetermined lateral length, wherein a side wall of groove 122, which is extended downwardly from the width of the stumbling sill to a predetermined part of the outer surface of the wall, is formed on both ends of the stumbling sill, and in this case, there occurs no undercut when molding an airtight container 10 using a mold and thus taken out of the formed airtight container 10 is easy.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the stumbling sill 121 is formed such that a part of its inner portion is a horizontal plane thereby enabling a locking member 21 formed on a lid 20 to be coupled thereto. Also, in order to prevent the voluntary release of the coupling of a locking member 21, the coupling protrusion 123 is protruded downwardly on the outer surface of the stumbling sill 121 so that upper protruded locking protrusion 22 can be coupled in the locking member 1.

On the periphery of the lid 20, there is provided a packing 30, which is connected to the top end of the wall 12 of the airtight container, and the receiving space 11 is air-tightly sealed by the packing 30 when the locking member 21 is coupled to the stumbling sill 121.

Meanwhile, in addition to the molding the airtight container 10 using glass, it is necessary that the overall thickness of the entire wall 12 is made uniform so that it can be strengthened. To this end, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a protruded surface 124 which is protruded inwardly is formed on the inner surface of the wall 12 corresponding to the groove depth of the stumbling sill 121.

More specifically, the protruded surface 124, as shown in the cross sectional view of FIG. 3, is inwardly protruded from where the stumbling sill 121 is formed, and the connecting part between the inner surface of the wall 12 and here the protruded surface 124 is prepared in a circular arc instead of an angulated shape.

Further, as shown in the plan sectional view in FIG. 4, the protruded surface 124 is protruded inwardly from where the stumbling sill 121 is formed and here the connecting part between the inner surface of the wall 12 and here the protruded surface 124 is prepared in a circular arc instead of an angulated shape.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a mold for forming an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an airtight container formed via the mold of FIG. 6 a; and FIG. 8( a) is a partial enlarged view of part C of FIG. 7 showing the polishing process of an airtight container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8( b) is a sectional view showing the polishing process of an airtight container according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 6, the airtight container 10 is molded via a base mold 31 for molding the outer surface of the wall 12 and the outer surface of the bottom part; an auxiliary mold 33 for supporting the upper end of the wall 12; and a pressing mold 32 for the purpose of pressing a battered glass material while simultaneously molding the receiving space 11 of the airtight container 10. This is a typical method of manufacturing a glass container.

Once the molding is completed as shown in FIG. 7 and the airtight container 10 is taken out of the mold, the glass material sticks out, as shown in FIG. 8, from the point where the molds 31, 32, and 33 meet together, and forms a burr 101. The burr 101 is removed by a fire polishing process which applies flame being sprayed by a torch 40.

As shown in FIG. 9, the airtight container 10 of the present invention does not provide a supporting corbel 2 a on the upper portion. Therefore, it decreases the width of the torch 40 thereby reducing the amount of flame spray by the torch 40, and as a result, reducing the manufacturing cost due to the reduction in the amount of flame materials being used.

On the contrary, in the related art where a supporting corbel 2 a is formed on the upper portion of the wall 12, the range of the burr occurrence is relatively wider, and thus requires a torch 40 with a relatively wider spray width, thus increasing the amount of flame material being used, and as a result, increasing the manufacturing cost. The present invention has solved the above problem.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents. 

1. An airtight container for preserving food comprising a container body wherein a lid with a locking member is detachably coupled on the upper portion on the peripheral surface and a space for food accommodation is provided therein, wherein a stumbling sill 121 with a lateral groove toward the inner direction is formed on the outer surface of the wall 12 of the container body, a side wall of groove 122, which is extended downwardly from the width of the stumbling sill to the outer surface of the wall, is formed on both ends of the stumbling sill, and protruded surface 124 corresponding to the groove depth of the stumbling sill is formed internally in the inner surface of the wall, thereby forming the wall with a uniform thickness.
 2. The airtight container according to claim 1, wherein coupling protrusion 123 is protruded downwardly in the outer portion of the stumbling sill
 121. 